Friday, 27 February 2015

How valuable is the very first copy of the New Zealand Herald, from 13 November 1863?

Over
the years, many people have claimed to have a copy of the very first New Zealand Herald. As there are only two known full copies, one
with the publishers and the other with the National Library in
Wellington, any other copy would be extremely valuable.

How
then, can they be sure if the copy is indeed an original from 1863?

My
first question to them is to check the very bottom of Column One on Page Two. If they find the words “Reproduction:
Monday, November 14, 1988”, then they have a reprint even although it has the requisite
six pages.

If
the version they have has only four pages, then odds on they have a copy of the
1913 reprint, but further questions need to follow.

On
Page One is the Z in Zealand with one or two vertical strokes and do the small
pictures of the ships in the shipping columns have full sails, rather than
furled? The 1863 original has two
vertical strokes and furled sails. Below is the 1913 reproduction taken from Paperspast:

There
is a further point of confusion, however. The Papers Past version of the 13
November 1863 New Zealand Herald
must have come from the 1913 facsimile, as it has six pages, one stroke on the
Z and full sails. The top right of the first page is also annotated that it is
from the 1913 reproduction.

7 comments:

My son has what could be an original of the first NZH. He says he's checked it off against the various indicators mentioned in the article and it ticks all the right boxes. How can he verify whether it's authentic?

Hi there, yes you could contact the National Library or if it's easier you could call the Central Auckland Research Centre on 09 307 7771 and make an appointment to come in here and speak with David Verran. Thanks, Andrew.

Hi there, we believe the 1913 reprint of the first issue of the New Zealand Herald is not very valuable. It would possibly be worth about $20.00 (NZD) but this is a guess, not based on evidence. Thanks, Zoë.